The Connection to Darkness
by marymc14
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley are starting their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite their hatred for each other, they have more in common than they think.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-The Shocking Revelation

Scorpius Malfoy stumbled into the car of the Hogwarts Express carrying his cauldron, trunk, and wand. He was completely alone, save for a young girl with freckles and red hair reading a story on the first female Minister of Magic in the Daily Prophet. "Excuse me," he said as he attempted to put his trunk in the bin above the seat.

"I know you. You're a Malfoy aren't you? I would know the platinum blonde hair and pasty skin anywhere. I'm Rose, by the way, Rose Weasley."

"Ah yes, a Weasley. My father has told me all about your clan. You're the daughter of a mudblood. I don't understand why a pureblood like your father would marry outside of the wizarding world."

"My mother may be muggleborn, but she was the greatest witch in her class and now works as an auror. My dad now is the head of the Order of the Phoenix, which may be something you know nothing about considering your family thought they were too good to side with the greatest wizard of all time, Albus Dumbledore."

"You do realize Albus Dumbledore has been dead for 20 years. Besides all of the greatest and most powerful wizards are in Slytherin House. My whole family has been in Slytherin for generations. We are the true purebloods. My dad always says, magic learning should be kept in all magic families. And since your mom is a mudblood, that makes you a halfblood. Not worthy of Hogwarts. "

"Hey, Scorpius. My uncle defeated the dark lord Voldemort in his last year, and your father just ran away. What's he doing now, working in Knockturn Alley?" Rose smirked.

"There are great jobs in Knockturn alley. He actually took over Borgin and Burkes. He sells dark magical objects to those who are worthy of meddling in the dark arts."

"There is a reason three out of the four houses produce good wizards and witches. There is a reason the first female Minister of Magic was a Ravenclaw. Good will always triumph over evil, Scorpius."

"Just you wait, one of these days there will be a powerful dark wizard taking control of the Wizarding world. He will be even more powerful than Lord Voldemort."

"Dark wizard? No. There will be a wizard that is going to be more powerful than Lord Voldemort, but his name is Harry Potter."

At that moment the train halted to a stop. Rose started putting on her Hogwarts robes, including a gold and red tie. "Really, already putting on a Gryffindor tie?" Scorpius smirked, "Weasley."

"I'm surprised. You're not getting ready. We should be at Hogwarts right now and you need to be dressed in your robes."

"Yes, but we still need to be sorted. And who knows, maybe the sorting hat will place you in Slytherin with me." Scorpius placed his hand on her shoulder. "Or worse, Hufflepuff."

"Just like you, I know where I'm going to be sorted. My whole family has been in Gryffindor. My parents, my uncles, and my cousins. Face it, Scorpius. The Potters and the Weasleys are taking over Gryffindor Tower."

Rose and Scorpius collected all of their belongings and exited the train. A man named Dean led all the first years down to the rowboats in the lake as the returning students boarded the Thestral driven carriages. The two young students were the last ones down to the lake and were forced to share the last rowboat with another young man, Sean Finnegan.

"Great. First the train, now the rowboat! What's next, Rose, same house?"

"Like that would happen. Weasleys and Malfoys would never be sorted into the same house. And frankly, I'm glad that's the way it is."

"It's a shame you're so self-centered, Rose, you're hot. It seems as though we aren't that different."

"Really, Scorpius? And just how similar are we?"

"Well we both only care about ourselves. Our families are both powerful, rich wizards, and we'll both do whatever it takes to be great. You would fit right in with me in Slytherin."

Rose turned around and slapped him across the face, leaving a bright red mark on his left cheek. "I will NEVER be sorted into Slytherin!"

"Oy! You first years! Cut it out. We don't need future wizards and witches getting expelled before they are even sorted!" the man named Dean yelled out as the first years rowed into the boathouse at the end of a winding staircase leading up to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "Alright, the Welcoming feast is about to start. We just need to climb these stairs until we get to the Great Hall. Then the sorting can begin. Oh and for all those who are muggleborn, or those who don't know much about Hogwarts. You will be sorted into one of four houses named after the four founders of Hogwarts School, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has famous alumni. Harry Potter was in Gryffindor, Cedric Diggory was in Hufflepuff, Luna Lovegood was in Ravenclaw, and of course, Lord Voldemort was in Slytherin. The sorting hat will place you in one of these houses based on your personality and characteristics. It can read your mind, so to speak. So go on into the Great Hall and let the sorting begin!"

"Like I said, Rose Weasley, the greatest wizards graduate from Slytherin House. Wouldn't you just love to be a part of the best house in Hogwarts, with the most driven students? Slytherin will help you on your way to greatness, no doubt about that."

"Oh just shut it, Scorpius. We'll see where the Sorting Hat places us. And who knows, you could be the first Malfoy sorted into Gryffindor. Wouldn't that just be a shocker?"

"I'm not going to be in Gryffindor. I long for power. I need to bring fame and glory back to my family's name. We are Malfoys, the biggest supporters of pureblood magic and the dark arts. We have wands, we can do what we want with them."

"With power comes responsibility, Malfoy. That's why there is a Ministry of Magic."

The doors to the Great Hall opened and the first years filed in a giant room filled with thousands of students eyeing them. Rose looked around, trying to find the Gryffindor table. Sure enough, the table was filled with redheaded students. Most of her cousins. She instantly knew where she wanted to sit. The headmaster, Oliver Wood, placed the sorting hat upon Rose Weasley's head and after a few long minutes of deliberation, it bellowed out "Slytherin!"

The entire Great Hall went quiet. This was the first time a Weasley had been sorted into any house besides Gryffindor, let alone Slytherin. Scorpius Malfoy tried so hard to suppress a giggle as Rose sauntered to the Slytherin table and put her head in her hands, hiding her tears.

"Really, we get a Weasley? In Slytherin house?" Rose heard other students gossiping. "I bet she speaks Parseltounge," others whispered. Rose didn't even notice that Scorpius had be right all along.

"Welcome to Slytherin," He said as he sat down beside her at the table. "It's going to be an interesting year!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Secrets of Slytherin House

As the Feast wrapped up, Scorpius decided to comfort Rose a little more. "Look, Rose, things are going to be alright. Yes you may be the first Weasley to join Slytherin House, but you will get used to it. We'll join the Quidditch team together; we'll ace Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"How in the world are you going to ace Defense Against the Dark Arts, Scorpius? Isn't the whole point of this house to practice the dark arts?"

"Knowing how other Wizards are going to try to defeat us makes us better at counterattacking their defenses, which makes us better at the dark arts." Scorpius explained. "Trust me, I know these things, my dad is a dark wizard. And I'm going to follow in his footsteps."

"I'm never going to become an auror, now that I'm a Slytherin." Rose whined.

"That is probably true. I don't think there has ever been a good witch or wizard that has come out of Slytherin House."

"Then I'm going to be the first. No one is going to stop me from becoming the witch I want to be. Not even Slytherin house."

Slytherin Prefect, Persephone MacNair, led the first years out of the Great Hall after the Feast ended and down the main staircase. As they trudged downward, the hallways seemed to get darker and colder until they reached a statue of the Bloody Baron.

"Pureblood Magic," Persephone announced. The statue jumped to life and slid to the right, revealing a dark archway into the Slytherin Common Room. The room was filled with fine antique furniture. The main leather couch faced a large fireplace surrounded by two metal serpent heads. The drapes were striped in dark green and silver. And, in the center of the Common Room, on the floor, was a painting of Salazar Slytherin's face with a snake slithering out of his mouth. Underneath the painting read the words, _Always remember, the Chamber of Secrets will always be there to purge the world of mudbloods._

"Where's my dorm?" Rose asked.

"Oh, Right." Persephone remembered. "Girls dorms are down this hallway to the right and the boys are down the hallway to left." She pointed to the hallways in two different ends of the common room. "Other houses have rules about boys staying in girls' dorms and etcetera, but since we are better than those in every other house, those rules don't apply to us."

"We have the hottest boys anyways," one girl said. She smiled as her boyfriend grabbed her hand.

"You know it, babe!"

Rose rolled her eyes and headed towards her dorm to pick her bed. "I got your trunk, Rose," Scorpius announced. He grabbed her trunk and started following her into the girls' dorm.

"You're like a little puppy. What is with you?"

"I'm just trying to make you feel better about joining Slytherin house, since you were so upset about it at dinner."

"Scorpius, you do realize that I can't face my family anymore? Both my parents hate your father. He was cocky, just like everyone else in this cold, creepy, dungeon."

"Rose, did you ever have a relatively good relationship with snakes?"

She paused and turned around. "What did you just ask me?"

"Was there any time in your life where you felt you could understand snakes and that they understood you?"

"I'm not going to answer that question, Scorpius. Just put my trunk down at the edge of my bed."

"Rose, you need to realize that despite your family's beliefs and history and characteristics, you are your own person. You may be different, but it's time for you to start becoming who you really want to be and not what you think your parents or family wants you to become. You are a full blooded Slytherin and you need to accept that."

"Right, Scorpius. I am my own person, so I'm not going to stoop to the level of you Slytherins. I may have been sorted into this house based on my attitude or my pride for my family or for some other reason, but I am NOT a Slytherin. I am and always will be a Gryffindor. That is what a Weasley is."

"Rose, that is the stubbornness that got you into the house you are in. Just accept the fact that you got what fit you and not what you thought you fit. This is your chance to shine. I don't care if you become a good or dark witch. That is your choice, but you are in Slytherin now, so deal with it."

Rose focused on the windows above her bed. The stars were reflecting off the lake and she could see almost the entire grounds, including the Forbidden Forest.

"Let's explore the castle tonight, Rose." Scorpius added. "I'm sure we could find secret passageways. Maybe we could venture into the Chamber of Secrets, wherever that is. It would be a good way to let off some steam before our first class tomorrow. And who knows, maybe you will run into your cousins!"

"I would love that actually, Scorpius." She left her trunk at the end of her bed, completely packed, grabbed her wand, and helped Scorpius unpack his trunk in his dorm. The pair wandered back into the Common Room and slithered out of the main archway into the dark, cold, dreary hallway that led to all the dungeons.

"Lumos!" Scorpius whispered, causing his wand to light up so he could see the entire hallway. He found another hallway leading off from the main one they were traveling down and pulled Rose with him. "Maybe there is something down here!"

The further they snuck down the passageway, the more it seemed like it wasn't leading anywhere. There was just a statue of a witch, who happened to be missing an eye. "Scorpius, let's go back. This is getting a little freaky!"

"Rose, there is a secret passage here, somewhere. This hallway wouldn't exist if it didn't lead anywhere. Here, help me move this witch." Scorpius started pushing the statue out of the way but it wouldn't budge. Rose hesitated but decided to add her strength to the endeavor anyways. Sure enough, there was a secret passage behind the statue. "Oh my God, Rose, this is so awesome and freaky at the same time! I wonder where it leads!"

Scorpius started wandering down the tunnel, which seemed to go deeper and deeper underground. Rose quickly followed him. She didn't want to be left alone back at the source of the passageway and get caught by a professor on her first day at school, yet she was terrified of wandering through the deep, dark tunnel by herself.

After what seemed like hours of walking in darkness, they finally saw a bright orange light. It was almost like torches of fire. As they made their way towards the light, they could see the fire surrounding a big brown box of some sort. "Could this be," Scorpius whispered, "could this be the very secret tomb of Salazar Slytherin, himself? This isn't the Chamber of Secrets is it?"

Inside the secret room, there was an unmarked tomb. The only acknowledgement of a death was the sign posted on one of the walls. The tomb did not actually contain the body of Salazar Slytherin, but the body of someone else, a Baron Severus Slytherin, the founding father's son, and the ghost of Slytherin house. "Rose. This is so neat! Father always said that the bodies of the house ghosts were buried deep within the castle. Do you know what this means?"

"Not exactly," she replied with a slight fearfulness to her voice.

"It means, if we found every single secret passageway in this castle, we could find not only all the bodies of the house ghosts, but maybe even the Chamber of Secrets. Or maybe there would be secret passageways out of the castle. We would be the only ones that know this much about the Castle. There may be secret rooms that no one has even dreamt of finding."

"But wouldn't we get in trouble, Scorpius?"

"Only if we get caught, but you're a Slytherin now. That shouldn't matter that much to you. Where's your sense of adventure, Rose?"

"I still think we should get back to our Common Room before…"

"Before you two get caught out of bed lurking out of bounds in the middle of the night?" a stern voice bellowed from behind Rose. Professor Mundungus Fletcher, head of the Slytherin house was standing near the entrance to the secret passageway leading back into the main part of the castle.

"Professor, how did you have any idea that we were down here?" Scorpius asked.

"Funny you should ask, Mr. Malfoy. There are spells and enchantments guarding the tombs of each house ghost. If any thieves, or students for that matter, even set foot into the tomb, the head of that ghost's house will be notified, due to the Body-Detection-Charm. As soon as a body is detected, a message appears on the chalkboard in my office. That is how I knew someone was down here. And sure enough, when I got to the hallway, the statue of the witch with one eye had been moved out of the way but someone forgot to close it back up!"

"We really need to be more clever next time." Rose whispered to Scorpius.

"Since you are in my house, I get to decide your punishment. Since you technically didn't steal anything or attack the body in anyway, I can't expel you. But I can take 60 points away from Slytherin and suspend you from the first week of classes. Now, get back to your dorms immediately and go to sleep!"

"Yes, Professor Fletcher," Rose answered. The duo followed Fletcher back up the secret passageway and back down the deep dark hallway towards the Slytherin Common Room. The statue of the bloody baron moved out of the way as Fletcher stated the password and the two went their separate ways into their dorms.

"What a great first night at Hogwarts," Rose sighed as she flopped onto her bed without even changing out of her robes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Man, the Mule,and the Tree**

Since they were forced to miss the first week of classes and thus the first week of assignments, due to their suspension, Rose and Scorpius started practicing flying and throwing quaffles into the goals in the Quidditch pitch. Quidditch tryouts were coming up in a few weeks and Rose felt like she needed to prove she could still be skilled, talented, and strong, despite her being a Slytherin. In order to make up for the punishment and the lost time in class, Quidditch was her only option.

"Ok Rose, you're doing great! You've sent lots of quaffles past me. Now let me try to score on you. 20 shots!"

"Ok, but after that we should practice seeking. After all, it's the most important part of the game. I think I want to be the Slytherin seeker, anways."

"Just get up to the goalposts, Rose!"

Rose glided up to the three goal posts and positioned herself in front of the middle post. "Whenever you're ready, Mr. Malfoy. Just try to get one past me!"

Scorpius zoomed in from all different directions, faked directions a couple of times, but out of the 20 shots he took on Rose, he only scored eight. "Wow, Rose. You'd make a fair keeper. I've been practicing moves, dives, and fakes like that at home and you've managed to stop most of them. I'm impressed."

Rose blushed, "Thanks, Scorpius. You seem pretty good at being a chaser. You might make the team. Can we try seeking now?"

Both Rose and Scorpius descended to the center of the pitch. Scorpius opened the trunk that held all four quidditch balls, grabbed the tiny golden snitch and threw it up in the air. "Let's give it a bit of a head start and then we can race each other for the snitch."

They waited until the snitch reached one end of the pitch before the race began. Rose kicked off the ground on her Firebolt while Scorpius zoomed away on his Thunderbird 2000. They chased the snitch as it soared in between goal posts and back across the center of the pitch. It then took a nose dive and switched directions. It started flying back towards the goal posts on the south end of the pitch when the seekers-in-training finally caught up to the snitch. Rose and Scorpius were neck-in-neck. All one had to do was reach out an arm and snatch it. Just before the snitch rounded the corner of the pitch Rose stretched out her arm and grabbed it from underneath Scorpius's nose. She held the snitch in her hand above her head as the two of them flew back towards the center of the pitch.

"Great race," Rose said smiling. "It was so close. You'd make a good seeker, too Scorpius."

"Well you beat me to it. I'm hoping to be a Chaser anyways."

"Why don't we put the quidditch stuff away and head up to the Great Hall? Dinner should be starting soon. All this flying is making me hungry." Rose suggested.

"Yeah that's a good idea. I'm hoping those house-elves cook up something delicious tonight."

"Well I also want to talk to the other first years about our assignments we missed too."

"Really, Rose? Come on, we still have the weekend to do it."

"Scorpius, we missed a week's worth. Besides, nothing is going on this weekend because Quidditch hasn't held tryouts yet. It's the perfect time to get caught up."

"Wow, you would have made a good Ravenclaw too." Scorpius said under his breath as they walked back towards the castle.

That evening after dinner, Rose sat at a table in the Slytherin Common Room catching up on the Defense Against the Dark Arts reading assignment discussing the use of simple spells against enemies. Scorpius approached her from behind and put his hands over her eyes. "Want to take a break and look at the stars? Let's go to the owlry in the north tower tonight," Scorpius proposed.

"Scorp, I need to read this. I would love to but I can't tonight."

"Rose, let's go." He grabbed her hand and lightly pulled her away from the table. "You would most likely regret this if you don't come with me."

"Scorpius, I don't need any more trouble right now. We've already been suspended from classes, we can't risk getting expelled already!"

"Look, if we are caught, all we have to say is that you needed to send an urgent owl to your mother because you just found out that your father is sick and could be dying and you wanted me to show you to the owlry."

"You think that would work? I don't know, I think most of the people here would know whether my father was dying because he's the head of the Order of the Phoenix."

"Perhaps, Rose, but that is a secret organization that not very many people know much about." The worried look didn't leave her face. "Alright, tell them you found out that your uncle was attacked by a Norwegian Ridgeback. That would make a little more sense."

Rose reluctantly agreed, grabbed a piece of blank parchment, folded it into fourths, and hid it in the pocket of her robes. The pair tiptoed out of the common room and back up the dark, twisted hallways towards the main staircase leading up to the Great Hall. They climbed each staircase quickly even though they tended to shift. It seemed to take ages to ascend to the top of the castle because there were so many levels. When they finally reached the top floor, Scorpius grabbed Rose's hand and led her towards one of the four towers.

"The lake is on the north side of the castle and the Whomping Willow is on the south."Scorpius reminded himself. "That means the Forbidden Forest and the path to Hogsmead are on the east and west sides, but which is which?"

Rose looked up towards the skylight on the north side of the castle, above her head, and noticed a white snowy owl glide over the window. "I think it's this way!" she said pointing to the tower located between the lake and the Forbidden Forest. "There might be a staircase leading up there, somewhere." Rose then started towards one of the north towers. Scorpius trailed behind her. When they reached the top of the stairs, they heard a myriad of different sounding hoots. The school owlry was filled with what seemed like 50 owls, all of different types and breeds mixed together in one room. At the end of the Owlry was an archway leading out to a balcony overlooking the entire grounds of Hogwarts. Rose and Scorpius held each other's hands as they gazed at the stars and their reflection in the sparkling Black Lake.

"The lake looks so magnificent from up here, you can see for miles!" Rose exclaimed

"Rosie, look how tiny and meek the Whomping Willow looks!"

"I think there is someone running towards it. Can you see him, Scorpius?" They both watched as the Whomping Willow sprang to life, trying to defend itself from anyone, or anything, that dared to disturb its presence in any way. The branches flailed around wildly, swinging up, and slamming to the ground. The man responsible for waking the Whomping Willow from its slumber had been replaced by a mule. The donkey dodged a few more of the tree's attempted blows and disappeared underneath the tree. A few seconds later, the Whomping Willow froze again, as if it had never been attacked at all.

"Scorp, he's an animagus! That man completely transformed into a mule!"

"Well now we know that there is a passageway, or a secret room that the tree is guarding. I wonder what's down there! Let's go find out!"

"Scorpius, no! We came up here to stargaze, not sneak down secret passageways again. This is enough for one night." Rose started to turn around and head back through the owlry towards the ever-shifting staircases.

"Rose, wait. There could actually be something of value hidden beneath that tree. What if that man was trying to steal something from the castle? What if he's a fugitive trying to destroy us all? What if he's trying to kidnap students? We have to figure out what is going on! To save Hogwarts!"

"Hogwarts doesn't need us to save her tonight. And besides, we are only first years, there is not much we can do. We barely know any magic to defend ourselves, let alone Hogwarts. Now, I'm going back to the common room and finishing up my homework. I advise you to do the same since we have our first classes on Monday."

They managed to arrive back in the Slytherin common room without any professor noticing them out of bed and without many of the staircases shifting on them. They parted ways once they reached their dorms and headed to bed. Rose continued her reading of the use of _expelliarmus _and _stupefy_ in her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, but Scorpius couldn't get the image of the man, the mule, and the tree, out of his head.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Seeking the Truth**

That Monday morning marked the beginning of classes for Rose and Scorpius. Rose had spent the entire weekend catching up on reading, practicing charms and transfiguration spells, and writing an essay for Potions class. Scorpius, to say the least, had not even opened his Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1. Rose awoke to the light from the sun shining into her eyes through the window above her bed and was appalled to find that she was the only one in her dorm. She raced out of bed, pulled her Slytherin robes on over her pajamas, threw her bright orange hair into a messy bun, grabbed her cauldron, wand, and spellbook, and sprinted out of the common room towards the Great Hall. She had no idea what time it was. All she knew was that if the Great Hall was empty, she was already late for her first class-Transfiguration, with Gryffindor House. She had already made a terrible start to her career at Hogwarts by being the first Weasley sorted into Slytherin House and getting suspended from her first week of classes, there was no way she was going to allow herself to be late to her very first class; especially after she spent an entire weekend catching up on homework.

By the time she reached the doors to the Great Hall, she was out of breath. Rose placed her ear on the door in an attempt to hear the inaudible drone of students' voices discussing various topics such as the post, quidditch, classes, and gossip. There was nothing. She cracked open the door, hoping that it was just too thick for sound to travel through, and to her surprise and relief, the students were just finishing up the breakfast feast. Professor Wood, Headmaster of Hogwarts, was just about to dismiss them to their morning classes. Rose stepped aside from the Great Hall and waited for Scorpius and the rest of the Slytherin first years to assemble in the main entrance so she could sneak up to Professor Brown's Transfiguration classroom without anyone noticing that she had been missing.

It was Professor Brown's policy to pair off each student from one house with a student in the other house so that each would be more focused on practicing the lesson. Since it was Rose and Scorpius' first class, they had to choose their partners from the remaining two Gryffindor students: Sean Finnegan and Stephanie Creevey. Rose paired up with Stephanie, which turned out to be a smart decision because every time Sean attempted to transfigure a pinecone into a teacup, he cast a few hexes on Scorpius. On Sean's third attempt at the charm, Scorpius suffered a nosebleed so extensive that Professor Brown had to personally escort him up to the hospital wing to have his nose magically clotted.

He wasn't seen again until his next class, which was after lunch, Potions with Ravenclaw. "Look, let's just be partners from now on in the rest of our classes," Rose whispered to him. "We only have Transfiguration twice a week, so you won't get hurt that much. If we stick together, we could be great and win house points for casting spells correctly." There was no way Scorpius was going to disagree with that theory, especially after Transfiguration.

The two filed into the potions classroom behind the rest of the Slytherin and Ravenclaw first years and took seats next to each other in the very back of the room. Potions class was taught by Head of Ravenclaw house, Professor Chang. She entered the classroom from her office off to the side of the room and immediately addressed her students. "Today, we are going to be brewing a simple potion-veritaserum. Can anybody tell me what it is and what the potion is generally used for?"

Rose's hand immediately shot up in the air, but was outsmarted by a Ravenclaw, Xena Longbottom. "It's a truth telling potion," she responded. "It is usually poured into someone's drink in order to make them only speak the truth. In most cases, it has been used to discover whether someone is an imposter or truly loyal to the truth seeker."

"Excellent, Ms. Longbottom. Ten points to Ravenclaw!"

"I totally knew that," Rose sighed as she slumped into the back of her chair. "Mum uses that all the time to find out when we did something wrong. She's like a spy. She knows all."

"Now, everyone pair off and follow the instructions that I have written on the board for veritaserum. Unfortunately, the potion must brew for at least one month before it is ready to be used. In the meantime, we will discuss the implications of using such a potion and working on simpler potions. Now, please have one partner collect all the ingredients from my supply closet." Rose grabbed her cauldron and carried it into Professor Chang's supply closet. All the ingredients for veritaserum were spread out on the first shelf. Rose grabbed each one and daintily placed them in her cauldron. She then tiptoed back to her seat, careful not to swing the cauldron or hit it against a desk, so she wouldn't damage the ingredients. When she arrived at her station, Scorpius was busy perusing through his Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1.

"Did you know there is a potion that can protect the drinker from being burned by fire? It sounds awesome! We need to figure out how to make this!"

"Scorpius, why would we ever need to know how to make that? When are we going to have to walk through fire?"

Scorpius was completely stumped, and did not get a chance to attempt to answer Rose's burning questions because Professor Chang announced that steps one through three of the concoction could be done today and that the students should get started right away if they wanted to see a properly acting Truth Serum in one month. Rose filled her cauldron halfway up with water and placed it over a small fire produced at their station. Scorpius then diced six cloves of ginger and poured them into the potion. In the final step, they had to pour a vial of centaur blood into the cauldron while stirring the potion slightly. The centaur blood was supposed to mix with the cloves of ginger for 8 days before the lacewing flies could be added.

"Now be careful, if you stir the potion too much when adding the centaur blood, it will mix too quickly with the ginger and in 8 days it will be a gross, puke brown color. Don't stir enough, and the potion will still be light red. My advice is to stir it lightly for a total of six in the clockwise direction and six in the counter-clockwise direction. I've seen too many Truth Serums wasted due to first years who were careless with their stirring."

As the class came to a close, Professor Chang wandered around the room, inspecting all the potions. Some were already at the perfect deep red color while others had a lighter, pinkish color. "You forgot the chopped ginger," she would say, or "you stirred too hard," or "you didn't even bring your potion to a boil." As she made her way towards Rose and Scorpius' cauldron, she noticed that their potion was at the perfect color and temperature. "Ten points to Slytherin, for following directions!"

Rose sneered at Xena Longbottom, who snarled back with "At least I'm not shaming my family by beng sorted into Slytherin."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Henry Hufflepuff**

Weeks passed and it was getting close to Halloween. The Veritaserum was almost ready. The students just had to find the person they were going to interrogate, grab some of their hair and place it in the Truth Serum. "Now, if you all have your target's DNA, then place it into your potion and it should be ready to use by the end of the class," Professor Chang stated.

"Whose DNA are you using?" Rose wondered as she watched Scorpius drop some dark brown hair into the cauldron.

"Oh you remember that night when we saw that man transform into a mule and disappear underneath the Whomping Willow? Well a couple of days ago I was relaxing out by the lake doing some light reading on advanced spells and I heard someone running near towards the Willow. Well I thought I was alone out there because it was late at night, so I decided to follow him. I managed to catch up to him before he got too close to the Whomping Willow, tackled him, and ripped out some of his hair. So tonight I am going to camp out near the Willow again and see if he comes."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Well there's got to be something that's important underneath that tree. He may not come tonight, but he will come back soon. And I'll be ready to ask him about that tree."

"But what if there isn't anything underneath that tree and he's hiding out from something or someone? What if you are getting your hopes up?"

"What if he's hoarding things from the castle underneath that tree, or there is a secret passageway somewhere, like the Chamber of Secrets!"

"You really are determined to find that place, aren't you?"

"Rose, there will come a time when students are going to need to choose between muggle-wizard unity and keeping our world a secret from those that are unworthy or don't understand magic. There is a reason wizards are not allowed to perform magic in front of muggles. They would take advantage of us. They would constantly ask us to conjure up something they need or make us magically complete an undesirable task because muggles are lazy by nature. They often seek the easy way out when there is one. Magic learning should be kept in all magic families, like the purebloods in Slytherin House."

"Then how do you explain magical muggle-born children, like my mother?"

"It's the reason why there are squibs. I theorize that there are a certain amount of children admitted to Hogwarts every year and enrollment has to reach that quota, right? Plus, the wizarding world needs to continue for future generations, so the Magic Quill decides which wizarding babies get to come to Hogwarts and which muggle-born children get to come. That way there are more families of wizards to continue on the line. Those that don't get to come to Hogwarts are thus, squibs."

"So you are saying that the Magic Quill decides which children are magical or not?" Rose asked unbelievingly.

"Well, it would explain why muggle families have magical children."

"Then it could just be a defect for the wizarding families." She retorted. Scorpius had no answer to her response.

"Anyways," Scorpius immediately changed the subject. "Do you know how much my father would appreciate me finding the Chamber of Secrets? Let alone all the pureblood wizards! I need to find it!"

"And you think it's under the Whomping Willow?" Rose rolled her eyes at his theory.

"It could be. It's worth a shot. That's one of the questions I am going to ask the mule man tonight. By the way, who's your target?"

"Oh Scorpius, that is a complete secret. I really just want to know a little bit more about why I was sorted into this house. It could be a Slytherin, or it could be a professor-one who knows how the Sorting Hat thinks." She winked. "Besides, if I am worthy of Slytherin House, I should find out all I can about those that dabble in the dark arts. I mean that's what this house is about, right?"

Scorpius looked at her puzzlingly. "I'm glad you are starting to see things the Slytherin way, Rose."

Suddenly Professor Chang announced that the Veritaserum should be ready to be administered to the desired target. All the students pulled out a tiny vial from their stations and filled them with

Truth Serum. "Now, once you have found the desired information from your target, I want you all to write a 2 foot-long essay on the importance of seeking the truth and the implications of using such means to gain the desired information due on Halloween. Have fun interrogating your targets, everyone! I look forward to learn about what you all discovered!"

As the class filed out of the Potions classroom, Scorpius headed up to the owlry to write his father a letter asking him about the Chamber of Secrets.

_Dear Father,_

_ I am having the most wonderful time at Hogwarts this year. Did you know that Rose Weasley was sorted into Slytherin House with me? I don't remember if I ever told you. Anyways, the two of us have been exploring the castle a bit and I was wondering if you had any information on the Chamber of Secrets. Apparently it's very important to Slytherin House. Please write back as soon as you can!_

_ Love,_

_ Scorpius._

He tied the letter to the talons of a small brown downy owl that had been nestling some of his feathers in the corner of the owlry. "Please take this to Malfoy Manor and do not leave until my father writes a response." The owl flew off in the southern direction over the Forbidden Forest. _That should give me enough information soon if I can't find mule man in the next couple of days_ Scorpius thought as he descended back into the castle.

In the meantime, Rose had wandered into the library looking for books on the history of the dark arts and a biography of Salazar Slytherin. Hogwarts, A History did not mention anything about the Chamber of Secrets or any secret passageways that contain the tombs of the houses' ghosts' bodies. The only relevant information she found was that Slytherin was a big supporter of keeping magic learning in pure wizarding families and that he left the castle because he had a falling out with Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, and Rowena Ravenclaw. She then decided to peruse through a book entitled, The Rise and Fall of Death Eaters. In this volume, she discovered that every death eater and dark lord that had come to power were in Slytherin House, except for one.

_Helga Hufflepuff's great-grandson, Henry had tried to keep muggle borns out of Hogwarts when he was Headmaster. He cast the Imperius Curse on the Sorting Hat to force it to kick all muggle children out of Hogwarts when it was placed upon their heads. When that failed, he cast the Imperius Curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to only teach the Unforgivable Curses and Hexes. Furthermore, he started using the Cruciatus curse on those who refused to torment any muggle-borns until the Ministry of Magic had him removed from office. It was then that he decided to seek revenge on the Ministry and Hogwarts. He started using the Imperius curse on pureblood wizards to follow him and do his bidding by torturing or killing muggle-born children. Hufflepuff had established an extensive following and almost overtook the Ministry of Magic. However, a former Hogwarts student who became an auror captured Hufflepuff alive, who spent the rest of his life in the wizard prison Azkaban. He suffered from the terrible Dementor's Kiss and succumbed to death just two months later. Hufflepuff also coined the term, "mudblood" to refer to all muggle-born children._

Rose closed up the book, stuffed it into her knapsack, and whisked off to the Slytherin Common room to find Scorpius. When she entered the common room, it was completely empty. Rose sprinted into the mens' dorm but Scorpius was not present. She then decided to head down to the lake to camp out and finish reading up on the rise of the death eaters. _There's got to be something about the Chamber of Secrets in here somewhere!_ She thought.

Rose flipped to the back of the book to read the section on Tom Riddle. "Aha!" _Lord Voldemort first opened the mystifying Chamber of Secrets in his last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Following in both Slytherin's and Henry Hufflepuff's footsteps, Riddle tried to purge the school of any muggleborns. In fact, one student was killed mysteriously. Fifty years later, the Chamber was indeed opened again but no student died. Many were mysteriously petrified, however. This lead to historians furiously searching for the existence of such a chamber, how it could be opened, who could have opened it a second time, what is inside the chamber, and whether it could be opened in the future. Although there have been clues found at Hogwarts School, the Chamber of Secrets has not been located. The Ministry of Magic theorizes that some advanced Slytherins had been casting hexes on younger students._

Rose shut the book, frustrated that she didn't find anything of value, and lay down to relax under the bright yellow sun. Suddenly she heard footsteps moving very quickly. She bolted upright and turned around. Sure enough a young man was sprinting frantically towards the Whomping Willow. Rose briskly followed behind him, careful to dodge any swinging branches from the tree. The man transformed into the mule and Rose sprinted towards him in order to follow him down the tunnel underneath the tree. As he trotted into the hole, Rose dove after him and quietly followed him.

Into the darkness.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Under the Willow**

Rose's perception of the cavern underneath the Whomping Willow was completely skewed. The mule kept running and running deeper into the darkness. After what seemed like long minutes, she finally saw a bright fiery light get brighter and brighter. The mule man led her to the room with the light which contained a lit fireplace with a painting of Salazar Slytherin above the mantel, a coffee table, a large leather antique sofa and loveseat, and an old grand piano. As the man entered the room she stepped off to the side in the dark black tunnel, careful not to be seen, but trying to peer into the room.

Suddenly a cold, harsh, weak voice piped up from the loveseat. "What did you bring me from the Castle today, Flint?"

"Well, sir," he stammered, bowing his head in the process. "I think I am close to finding the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets."

"Good, but not good enough. We need to find it quickly. Did you bring me anything more of value?"

"Sir, Legend says the Chamber of Secrets is located beneath the Castle somewhere. Perhaps it would be near Slytherin House? I've managed to sneak into Hogwarts at night through the secret passageway in the Hog's Head. It's led me into the basements, near the dungeons. No one has ever seen me down there."

"Weren't you a Slytherin, Flint?"

"Yes Sir."

"Then sneak into the common room and take it over. One of them is bound to know where the Chamber of Secrets is. Don't be afraid to kill anyone that stands in your way."

"But sir, kill pureblood Slytherins? They are what Hogwarts is all about!"

"It is not ideal, Flint, but if some are going to have to die for the good of Slytherin House, Hogwarts, and the whole Wizarding world, then so be it."

"Yes sir." Flint bowed his head and backed away from the loveseat. He started to walk out of the room into the dark passageway

"Oh, Flint. I forgot one very important thing. If you kill any students, bring me their wands. And if you happen to find the legendary cloak of invisibility, bring it to me. I want to be the one who opens the Chamber of Secrets for the third time."

Rose took a few steps backwards away from the light, careful to not let Flint discover her when he trotted out of the room and his eyes adjusted to the darkness. She then straightened up against the wall and held her breath as he trudged past her. Once he was out of her sight she tiptoed back the way she came, feeling the walls around her for guidance towards the entrance to the Whomping Willow. It felt like hours when she finally even saw a speckle of light-grass and blue sky. The sun was shining at Hogwarts that day. It wasn't even dusk yet. She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally climbed out of the hole and found herself back on Hogwarts' grounds.

_I've got to tell Scorpius about this!_ And she headed straight for the Slytherin Common Room. When she arrived, she found Scorpius in his dorm practicing a couple of Defense Against the Dark Arts spells with another Slytherin First year, Antonio Carrow. She knew not to say anything involving information about the Chamber of Secrets so she blurted out, "I found the mule in the dark place and it's really bad!" Scorpius dropped his wand and stared at her questioningly. Antonio switched his gazes between the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on. Rose then widened her eyes at Scorpius and restated what she had blurted out, emphasizing the part about the mule.

When Scorpius realized what she had said he quickly picked up his wand and burst through the door to the common room, up the dark dingy hallways, through the main entrance to the castle, and straight towards the Whomping Willow. Rose trailed right behind him and pulled him out of the way of the tree's menacing branches. They flopped to the ground and Rose told him everything that she had learned about the Chamber of Secrets, about the room under the Whomping Willow, who the mule-man is, and what she had learned about Henry Hufflepuff.

"The heir of Hufflepuff was the first Dark Lord to come to power, and the only one from a house besides Slytherin." Rose stated.

"Wow. That is curious."

"What's curious about it? Besides the oddity that only one terrible powerful wizard came from a house other than Slytherin."

"From what I've learned, Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw had specific qualities that they looked for in their students. Helga Hufflepuff just took everyone else that didn't fit into the other three houses. It's just curious that the one dark wizard would be her descendant."

"Maybe Henry Hufflepuff was tired of Helga's very open and accepting policy." Rose suggested. "Maybe He wanted to leave a different legacy and bring some sort of glory back to the Hufflepuff name by persecuting muggles."

"Or maybe he was a pureblood wizard and got tired of having to associate with muggle-born children living in the house founded by his great-grandmother."

"Well we aren't going to know unless we research the history of Hufflepuff House more. Anyways, we need to go back under the Willow very soon and find out who that creepy man is, and what his intentions are with the Chamber of Secrets," Rose said.

"Let's camp out tonight near the Willow. When we see Flint, we'll ambush him and use the veritaserum to find out information about the creepy old man he's serving. It sounds like someone is trying to rise to power again."

"You mean, like replacing Voldemort?" Scorpius asked.

"I guess, but he sounded very old and weak. Like he didn't have enough strength to carry out his plans to open the Chamber of Secrets by himself."

"Well, let's see what we can find out from Flint tonight and hopefully I can find out some information about the Chamber of Secrets from my father. I sent him an owl. Hopefully he knows something.

"Sounds like a plan." Rose responded.


End file.
